quaalude

Mayhem is considered one of the founding bands of the early Norwegian black metal scene with Euronymous growing an almost cult-like following for his contributions to the scene and his anti-christian beliefs. Euronymous considered himself a Theistic Satanist and was anti-church and establishment. 

Photo of Euronymous and Necrobutcher

In 1988 Mayhem gained themselves a new vocalist of the name Per Yngve "Pelle" Ohlin, who chose to go by the name ‘Dead’. Dead was a part of the Swedish band Morbid before leaving Sweden to go to Norway to join Mayhem. Dead was severely depressed and this was used to the advantage of the band, on multiple occasions Dead would harm himself on stage during performances with one time the Emperor drummer Faust claimed he had to be rushed to the hospital after a show. This was used to further the dark image the band held and portrayed. 

Pelle Ohlin

On April 8th 1991, Pelle Ohlin killed himself in his bedroom, leaving a suicide note which had a line “Excuse the blood…”. Euronymous had to use a ladder and climb inside through a window to get into the house, where he discovered Pelle's body. Euronymous then left to go to a local shop to buy a disposable camera, then returning to the house to pose the body and take photos of it with the newly bought camera. After this is when he decided to report the suicide. 

The photo of Pelle’s posed body was later used as cover art for the bootleg live album named “the Dawn of The Black Hearts” which was released in 1995. 

Euronymous used Pelle’s suicide as a way to darken the look of the black metal scene, stating that he had killed himself due to black metal becoming “too mainstream”, and it is stated that the scene had seemed to change after Pelle’s death. 

The Shift -

Following Pelle’s death, a month or two later in May-June 1991, Euronymous opened his records shop named Helvete which is Norwegian for ‘Hell’. This records shop became a central point in the “inner circle” community and the shop's basement became a meeting place. The mystique of the shop created an idolization of Euronymous, people became more invested into his ideas and beliefs. 

Alongside the opening of Helvete, Euronymous started his own Records Label under the name ‘Deathlike Silence Productions” and through this he met a man named Varg Vikernes who was the founder of the band Burzum.

Photo of Helvete

Euronymous worked with Varg under his label to release Varg's album in March 1992, to release the album, Euronymous had to take out a loan which Varg had financed. This was one of the contributing factors in the rising tension between the two as Varg was never repaid for the money he spent. 

The two held a rivalry, as their personalities clashed. Euronymous held the persona of being the “darkest” or “most extreme” person in the black metal scene, though Varg was doing criminal acts himself, and would criticize Euronymous for just holding an image instead of acting as he did. 

During this time in Norway, church burnings and arson attacks only worsened, and this was attributed to the black metal scene, with Varg being convicted of church arson. And on August 21st 1992, Emperor’s drummist, Faust killed a man in a park after being propositioned for sex.

The rift between the two only worsened.

The Murder -

On August 10th, 1993, Varg Vikernes traveled to Euronymous's apartment in Oslo. Varg claimed he traveled there to return a signed contract to Euronymous; something that was meant to solve a part of their financial issues.

There are conflicting reports of what happened that night at Euronymous’s apartment, and with Euronymous deceased we will never know the 100% true story, though what we do know as fact is;

On the night of August 10th, 1993, at around 3am, Varg and Snorre (Blackthorn) traveled to Euronymous’s apartment together. While the two stories conflict with on if both of them went inside or if only Varg did, both were present at the scene. Varg entered the apartment, and while the details are unclear it led to Varg Vikernes stabbing Euronymous 23 times in the head, neck, and back, with Euronymous’s body being found in the stairway of the apartment complex with it being found later that morning. 

Euronymous Apartment

Varg Vikernes was arrested on August 19th, 1993 for the murder of Euronymous, and he claimed the entire situation was self defense. He made claims that Euronymous attacked him, was long planning to attack and kill him, and that he ultimately had no other choice in the matter that night.

Varg Vikernes getting arrested and newspaper clippings

Not much is known about Pelle's early life, as his childhood has remained private. Although, one critical point in his childhood has been made aware to the public, when he was 10 years old, he ruptured his spleen which caused internal bleeding, an injury so intense he was proclaimed officially dead for multiple minutes until he was eventually resuscitated.

 Pelle himself claims this was from an ice skating accident but his brother, Anders, wrote a book, and in a section of it he revealed that Pelle was severely bullied as a child. After one attack by the bullies so extreme he ruptured his spleen, which led to him being rushed to the hospital. 

This incident, whichever one be true, is what led to Pelle’s fascination and obsession with death and inspired his stage name, Dead. 

Teenage Years

As Pelle entered his teenage years, he grew interested in heavy metal and the music scene as a whole, with Venom, Bathory, and Sodom being some of his favorites. 

In 1986, when Pelle was 17 years old, he founded the Swedish death metal band Morbid, he recorded the debut demo album named ‘December Moon’ which was released in 1987. Pelle’s feelings towards Morbid were complex, he was passion driven, and had an artistic connect to the band, though with how unstable the band was, he decided to move on. 

Mayhem

In 1988, the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem needed a new vocalist after their previous one ‘Maniac’ left the band. This led to Pelle being interested and sending Euronymous and Necrobutcher a package, a crucified rat, and a tape with his vocals on it. While they lost the crucified rat, they made sure to save the tape with his contact information. Euronymous was impressed, this was exactly who he wanted as his vocalist. 

So, Pelle packed his belongings and moved to his sister country, Norway to join Mayhem as their newest vocalist.  

Dead and Euronymous

The Dead Persona

Pelle’s stage name throughout his musical career was ‘Dead’, a nickname chosen by himself due to his intense morbid fascination with death. During his time with Mayhem, he cultivated a persona, around darkness and being corpse-like. 

Mayhem as a whole held an image of being a part of the darkness, being anti-christian and satan worshipping. Dead helped drive this image as for him, the lines between his Dead persona and him as a person blurred.

Pelle suffered from depression for a big portion of his life, this was shown with his self harm, him both doing it in private, but as well as on stage. He’d cut himself during performances to put on a show of ‘evil’ and members of the band, especially Euronymous pushed for this as it created a bigger mystique around the band. It was stated by Emperor’s drummer Faust that after one performance Pelle injured himself so badly he was supposed to go to the hospital afterwards but didn't, leaving Pelle sick with blood loss.. 

Pelle would bury his stage clothes in the ground so they would develop a grave-like rot smell, so he could further his corpse-like appearance, Pelle wanted to be as similar to a corpse as he could. 

To further the look into being corpse-like, Pelle would wear corpse-paint, and he popularized it within their band. The origins of corpse paint are complicated and has mixed interpretations, but Dead did popularize it within the immediate scene and coined the name of ‘Corpse-Paint’ 

Photos of Pelle during a recorded video and him wearing corpse paint

He would also self-isolate. This was made easier by the fact some of the members of Mayhem decided to live in a remote house in the woods. He would lock himself in his bedroom, and go days without speaking to anyone. 

Necrobutcher would state that the house situation could be tense, Euronymous and Dead often got on each other's nerves, they’d agitate each other. With one situation being stated by Hellhammer that Dead would sleep outside in the woods because Euronymous would blast music that he hated, and that Euronymous would go outside with their shotgun and shoot it into the air. Varg Vikernes also claimed that Dead once stabbed Euronymous with a knife. 

The Death of Pelle Ohlin

By April 1991, his persona of Dead became intertwined with who he was as a person even off of the stage. He continued to suffer from depression and ultimately on April 8th, 1991, Pelle killed himself in his bedroom while alone in the house. He left a suicide note which started with the line “Excuse the blood…” 

Euronymous returned home to find the door locked, and with that he had to get a ladder and climb inside through a window. This led to him finding Pelle’s body. Euronymous then left the house, going to a closeby store to buy a new disposable camera. He returned to the house, and posed Pelle’s body moving the objects around him and the way his body laid. He then took multiple pictures of him. After this, is when he decided to report the suicide.

One of the photos that was taken that day was used as the cover of Mayhem's bootleg live album named “Dawn of the Black Hearts” which was released in 1995. 

Pelle Ohlins Legacy

Following Pelle’s untimely death in April 1991, the black metal scene went through many very drastic changes in a very short amount of time. People who knew Euronymous have stated that Pelle’s death, and him finding his body affected him more than he showed, and that it led to him taking the ‘dark’ and ‘evil’ persona to a more personal level, beyond the show it was before. 

Emperor’s drummer, Faust once stated "[Dead] wasn't a guy you could know very well. I think even the other guys in Mayhem didn't know him very well. He was hard to get close to….”

Occultus, who took over as Mayhem's vocalist for a short period after Pelle’s passing stated “"He [Dead] didn't see himself as human; he saw himself as a creature from another world. He said he had many visions that his blood has frozen in his veins, that he was dead. That is the reason he took that name. He knew he would die." 

Many fans or people who knew who attempted to sensationalize his death, which in the decades following his death, has led to much misinformation and rampant theories we cannot confirm.